The present invention relates to a catheter assembly, and in particular for urinary hydrophilic catheters. Catheters are commonly used for draining bodily fluids, e.g. from the bladder. Urinary catheters are e.g. used by a large group of persons for intermittent catheterization, which is a daily-life procedure, taking place several times a day. Typically catheters for intermittent catheterization are used by patients suffering from urinary incontinence or by disabled individuals like para- or tetraplegics. Using an intermittent catheter, the bladder may be drained through a natural or artificial urinary canal. Many catheters for intermittent catheterization are provided with a hydrophilic coating or the like, providing a smooth and slippery surface when wetted, for safe and comfortable insertion in the urinary canal.
Many hydrophilic catheter assemblies include a supply of wetting fluid, either in direct contact with the catheter or in a separate compartment, for clean and convenient activation of the hydrophilic surface before use.
However, there is still a need for improved packages for such catheter assemblies. The package should preferably be relatively simple and cost-efficient to produce. Further, the package should be easy to handle, even for users with reduced dexterity. Still further, the package should enable adequate wetting of the catheter and handling of the package in a clean manner. The package should also preferably be rather small, so that it can easily be carried around by the user in his/hers daily life. It would also be highly advantageous if the package is resealable, so that the catheter could be re-closed after use, if it cannot be immediately disposed of.
Patent application US 2011/056852 by the same applicant discloses a urinary catheter assembly having a resealable opening. However, even though this catheter assembly is highly usable for short catheters, for female users, re-insertion of longer catheters, typically for male users, may be cumbersome and with the risk of spillage and the like. Male catheters may be 40 cm long, or even longer, and insertion of the tip portion through the resealable opening without touching the insertable part of the catheter is rather difficult, especially for users with reduced dexterity. Further, even though this product is small when used for short female catheters, it inevitably becomes much longer when used for long male catheters. Further, closing of the reseable opening after re-insertion of the catheter in a sufficiently sealed manner may also be difficult with this known catheter assembly, and again, especially for users with reduced dexterity.
Since a catheter needs to be of sufficient length to extend through the urethra, for instance having an insertable length of at least 200-350 mm for male users, the catheter assembly generally requires more space than is convenient. The assembly may thus be cumbersome to store, transport and handle, which is inconvenient not least for the individuals for whom catherisation is a daily-life procedure. To alleviate the inconvenience, there is a strive for less space consuming catheter assemblies which improve life quality for the user of catheters in that the assemblies can be handled and stored more discreetly, for instance in the pocket of a users clothing. Various attempts to produce more compact catheter assemblies have been made.
For example, US 2009/163884 by the same applicant discloses a catheter assembly including a urine collection bag integrated in a rearward part of the package. This assembly is made more compact by folding the rearward part over an elongate pocket housing the catheter. However, even though this solution makes the catheter assembly significantly more compact, the size of the product is still at least as long as the catheter itself.
A similar approach is taken in U.S. Pat. No. 8,052,673, also by the same applicant, in which a rearward part of the package housing the wetting fluid container is folded over a forward part housing the catheter. The folded parts are held together by means of an adhesive. However, even though this solution also makes the catheter assembly significantly more compact, the size of the product is still at least as long as the catheter itself.
There have also been attempts to make the catheter telescopic, but for natural reasons, such solutions are difficult and costly to produce.
Still further, it has been proposed to arrange the catheter in a curved disposition. For example, EP 2 106 821 by the same applicant discloses a catheter assembly in which the package comprises pleated regions allowing the package, and the catheter within it, to be arranged in a folded or double folded disposition. This solution greatly reduces the size of the catheter assembly. However, this type of package is relatively complicated and costly to produce. Still further, even though the curving of the catheter is arranged to exceed a minimum diameter of curvature, there is still a risk that the catheter will remain in a curved disposition even when withdrawn from the package. This is due to the fact that catheters are normally of a material having certain rigidity/shape memory characteristics. Storing the catheter assembly for a long period of time in a non-straight disposition, may result in kinking and distortion of the catheter, and imply resistance of easily reverting the catheter to its straight disposition prior to an intended use. The user may subsequently experience discomfort during insertion of the catheter, especially if the first section of the insertable part remains in a non-straight disposition.
Consequently, there is a need for a leaner and less bulky catheter assembly, and/or a catheter assembly which is less expensive to produce, meanwhile easy and convenient to handle and store, and in which the catheter will assume as straight a disposition as desired before use.